A color printer of a sublimating type is conventionally proposed. In this color printer, a color image is formed on a card-shaped printing medium by sublimating yellow, magenta and cyan inks arranged on an ink ribbon by a thermal head. A dye on the card-shaped printing medium having the color image formed by this printer is weak in oil component attached to a finger. Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 7-52428 discloses a card-shaped printing device for protecting this weak dye. In this card-shaped printing device, laminate data are read from a laminate memory storing the laminating data of one frame thereto and a laminate film is then transferred. However, in this conventional sublimating color printer, the laminate data stored to the laminate memory are set to data of one frame as in image data of the YMC. Accordingly, it is necessary to arrange a frame memory having a capacity of one frame as in a frame memory for storing the image data of the YMC as the laminate memory for storing the laminate data.
Further, in the conventional printer for forming such a film on the printing medium, one kind of pattern can be formed on the printing medium, but no plural kinds of patterns can be formed on the printing medium. A frame memory is required for every plural pattern to form the plural laminate patterns on the printing medium by using the conventional printer. Therefore, a problem exists in that the printing device becomes expensive since cost of these plural frame memories is required.